Letters to Sakura
by ia3
Summary: While trying to find a perfect gift for Naruto, Sakura stumbles upon the letters that he never sent.


Summary: While trying to find a perfect gift for Naruto, Sakura stumbles upon letters that he never sent. Entry to H&E Valentine's and White Day Contest.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, never have, but maybe one day. Muahahahaha!

**Letters to Sakura**

_Dear Sakura-chan,  
>Over the last few years, writing to you has been a source of great comfort to me. It gives me peace, knowing that even if you never get to read this, there is hope that someday someone will find this package and know that the way I feel about you, the way I have felt about you for as long as I have known you, is real.<br>If, as you read this, I am standing in front of you, please try not to make too much fun of me. Some of these letters go back to our academy days, when I was a puppy in love with you (I hope that's what puppy love means), following you around and hoping against hope that you might pick me up and realise that if you loved me, I would be yours forever.  
>If things don't turn out as well, I hope you never find this. Please don't regret anything you and I have or haven't done together. Being around you has been the greatest experience of my life, and I would not want these letters to taint that.<br>Yours always,  
>Naruto.<em>

As she finished reading, a slowly spreading warmth begun to creep up into her cheeks. The warmth spread to her eyes as they grew glossy with unshed tears that at that moment, threatened to blemish her lightly made up face.

And that was only the first one. She could only guess that he had written it in the height of the third Great Ninja War, when the second coming of Kabuto had pushed the shinobi alliance of the Five Nations into trench warfare, doing whatever they could to prevent the advancement of the unending flood of the snake's new breed of experimental soldiers into their lands.

Once again, Naruto was ordered to hide away for his own safety. Being too stubborn to listen, and caring too much about his allies to just take a back seat, he had managed to slip out of the village, unbeknownst to Tsunade until it was too late.

Wary of drudging up more memories of the past, Sakura hesitantly turned to the next letter, and almost dropped the entire bunch. Despite her sombre mood, she managed a half-smile, marvelling in the sheer volume of the letters.

Typical Naruto, he does nothing by half measures.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Sakura-chan,<br>As I write this, I live in fear that I will be too late. Kakashi sensei just told us that the enemy broke through one of our lines and seems to be headed straight for Konoha. We've been running all day ever since. We're close, but the men need rest._

_In case we never make it out of this, I want you to know that the only regret I have ever had in my life was not fulfilling my promise to you.  
>Sakura-chan, you are what keeps me going in this crazy life. You are gentle, you are warm, and you have such a big heart. You inspire me and around you, I know that I am the best Naruto I can be.<em>

_I love you Sakura-chan. Whatever happens tomorrow, for you, for Konoha, I will win this war!  
>Yours always,<br>Naruto._

That day was the day that the Great Battle for Konoha was won. Naruto and his team made it back just in the nick of time, and standing valiantly in front of the gates, they fought off wave after wave of grosteque, half-men which Kabuto threw at them, until the snake himself appeared.

Alerted by his presence, most of the original Rookie Nine assembled and attacked him simultaneously. The details of the fight were unclear to her, as she had stayed close to the village with Tsunade, her skill too precious to waste her chakra on ending life, instead of saving it. She knew that Naruto had pulled out all stops, and used the full extent of Kyubi's chakra as a last ditch attempt, and although it had worked, barely, there had been a heavy price to pay.

Her thoughts rested with the blue-eyed, blonde haired boy who had been a constant in her life while she was growing up. Initially, he was a constant pain. Later on, he became a constant companion, and someone she could reliably call friend.

Willing herself to go further back in time, she began reading the next letter.

_Dear Sakura-chan,  
>It hurt having to tell you what I did. It also hurt hearing the words I have always longed to hear from you and knowing that they are tainted by an ulterior motive, even though I recognise now that it was to save my life.<em>

_I do still love you, always have, and always will. But loving someone means seeing them happy, and that's what I intend to do. I will keep my promise to you, I will bring him back.  
>Then, maybe I could allow myself just that little bit of hope that just maybe this once, you will choose me.<em>

_Yours always,  
>Naruto.<em>

* * *

><p>In all the years she had known him; it had never struck Sakura that Naruto could be that vulnerable. To her, he was always a rock. He was there for her to rest on when life got too much, and he had been there for her to lean on whenever she needed it.<p>

Like that time at the hospital...

"_Hey, Sakura-chaaannn," his distinctive voice woke her from her reverie. She was writing up her 10th patient of the night. Casualties were flying in thick and fast as the war intensified. She was overworked, constantly stressed and always out of chakra, but it had to be done. There were always too many people who needed saving.  
>"Ramen!" he cried, as he plonked two bowls of his favourite meal on the desk in front of her.<br>_

_"Naruto! Be careful with those," she had cautioned, watching with bated breath as every gentle undulation of soup threatened to spill itself onto her precious paperwork.  
>She had resisted initially, but the smell of food was too alluring to her barely nourished self, and soon she found herself in a noodle slurping race with him. They had talked that night, and laughed and when the meal was over, he reminded her of the real reason why she had been working herself so ragged.<em>

_"Sakura-chan, can you talk to baa-san for me? I need to be out there fighting. I want to be able to protect the village too, and all our friends, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Lee.."  
>He went on to list them all, but she had tuned him out. She realised that the reason she had worked so hard was because she was thankful to all the shinobi who were out fighting. Thankful that they were willing to give their lives to protect her way of life, and thankful that because of their efforts, Naruto was within the city walls, safe and protected, and not out there where he would be a prominent target.<em>

* * *

><p>"Hello beautiful, what have we got here?"<p>

The voice of the man himself startled her from her reminiscence. She jerked up suddenly and made to quickly hide the package in her hands, while turning to him and giving him the most innocent smile she could muster.

"Nothingggg"

What she had forgotten, was how well her blonde haired husband had come to know her over the years. She sometimes missed the times when he would take everything she said at face value and never question her words.

After being married for only two years, he now seemed to read her mind and she had long since lost the ability to keep secrets from him.

So it was not lost on her that he noticed her hiding something behind her back. It was also not lost on her that at least half the letters from the package were currently strewn on the floor in front of their couch, and that their writer had changed amusingly from his normal complexion to becoming pale, and then a healthy tomato red as he clutched his head in his hands in horror and something akin to pure embarrassment.

She began to feel a little bad for finding the package in the first place, shoved into the bottom of a false drawer where she knew he kept all his valuables. She had been looking for some clues as to what to give him for Valentine's Day along with the chocolates she had already made. He was just so darn difficult to buy for because, as Hokage, what could he not have on a whim?

Still, she decided to tease him about the letters.

"You hurt me darling. I thought that we had no secrets from each other."

"S-s-sakura-chan..Umm..I..It's just that, they're embarrassing. And..not my best work!" he recovered smoothly.

"Oh baka, I was just teasing. I love reading these letters," she smiled and beckoned to him with her head and patted the empty space on the couch next to her, "Come read with me, I need a pillow to hold on to for the exciting parts."

* * *

><p>"Ohhh..here's a good one..'Sakura-chan, why do you keep turning me down? Don't you like ramen?'"<p>

"Sakura-chan, I really like your forehead."  
>"What? You really wrote that? Such an eavesdropper!"<p>

"Neh, read me the letter you wrote after you met your parents again? I wish I could have been there with you."

And so they continued laughing and crying into the night, reliving many of the ups and downs of their lives through Naruto's words. So enraptured they were at rediscovering their journey of finding one another that they fell asleep on the couch, Sakura's pink hair only barely visible underneath the blanket of letters they had fashioned for themselves, and a folded sheet of paper stirring with the gentle exhalation of Naruto's breath.

* * *

><p>"Mmmmmhhhh..." Naruto stretched as he woke up, stiff from curling up on the couch. He blinked. The cute pink haired woman who had fallen asleep on him was nowhere to be seen. He could find no trace of the letters and it left him wondering if he had come home and dreamt the whole thing.<p>

He ran up the stairs as quickly as he could, pulling out his secret drawer and fumbling with the catch. Finally, he managed to open it, and he knew he hadn't been dreaming after all.

He couldn't help but smile as he read.

_Dear Naruto,  
>I knew this would be the first place you looked. You need to find better hiding place for your things darling.<br>I love you with all my heart. You fill my life with light, and you make our time here, together, so amazingly meaningful by just being you. Thank you for asking me to marry you. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me._

_Look inside the envelope. I know that you will bring meaning into all our lives forever and always.  
><em>

_Love always,  
>Your Sakura-chan.<br>Ps: This is how you write a love letter, baka.  
>Pps: I had to go in to the hospital today. Meet me at Ichiraku's for lunch?<em>

Contained within the envelope, was a stick with two red lines on it. Sakura had written on it "Happy Valentine's Day, Naruto-kun"

Naruto cocked his head, turning the stick around, trying to understand the message she was trying to send him. He also found a box of her signature, _naruto_-shaped handmade chocolates in his secret drawer. Those were easy enough to understand so he popped one in his mouth as he re-read her letter for the umpteenth time. He wondered if Sasuke-teme might have a clue...

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>  
>So I revived my writing career for the competition, and won! Thank you to everyone who voted for me.<p>

I was inspired by the keyword _'love letters'_ as I feel that letter writing is a slowly dying art, and what a shame at that. A lot of my inspiration for this piece was stuff I have previously written for someone who was important to me.

Once again, a big shout-out to violinkit who helped the story come to life.

I've put it up here on FFnet for everyone to read. I'm still not sure I have lived up to my previous standards and would really appreciate your thoughts and reviews. Cheers!

Ps: For those of you who weren't sure, _naruto_ is also a fishcake


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